Appreciating All Child Caregivers

“Day in and day out, selfless and loving Americans provide care and support to family members and friends in need. They are parents, spouses, children, siblings, relatives, and neighbors who uphold their unwavering commitment to ensure the lives of their loved ones shine bright with health, safety, and dignity. During National Family Caregivers Month, we rededicate ourselves to making sure our selfless caregivers have the support they need to maintain their own well-being and that of those they love.”

With this proclamation began National Family Caregivers Month, which expanded from the preexisting National Family Caregiver’s Week and recurs every November.

Many people who become long-term family caregivers for seniors, family members with disabilities, or special needs children usually do not anticipate this enormous duty or the consuming impact it can have on their day to day lives. It can make a caregiver feel unappreciated, unaccomplished, frustrated, angry, sad, and resentful. Over time, this role can have very negative physical and emotional impacts on the caregiver.

Seeking Help from the State

If you are in the role of family caretaker, we applaud you, but also urge you to take care of yourself. This includes seeking help, like finding respite care to give yourself some relief, whether it is professional respite, or a responsible friend or family member to help you. In addition, there is no shame whatsoever in asking the state for services and resources.

The National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP) provides supportive services to family caregivers who are caring for a person older than sixty or a person with Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, it provides assistance to relative (non-parent) caregivers above the age of 55 who are caring for a child or adult with a disability. This is significant as in 2015, approximately 90,583 grandparents in North Carolina had the primary responsibility of caring for their grandchildren. NFCSP assistance includes:

Help identifying and accessing available services.

Counseling and training to help caregivers with financial planning, health, and nutrition.

New Direction Family Law is a family law firm that represents clients navigating separations, divorces, property division and alimony, and child custody matters. We strive to provide compassionate, caring legal representation and understand the toll that these issues take on our clients. If you need legal assistance, please contact us. Call New Direction Family Law at (919) 719-3470 to schedule an appointment, or contact us online at our website.